Welcome to the Double Parlor!

Happy news!  Mayfair Witches From Page to Screen is back on the Parlor's main navigation menu!

Allow me to elaborate...

As AMC's Interview With the Vampire series is set to resume filming, and there are no reports of the effect the strikes might have on the Mayfair Witches series, I am willing to return to discussion on Season 1 of Anne Rice's Mayfair Witches.  

If I read correctly when the WGA strike first began, a script for Season 2 of the show had been turned in, I believe it was phrased.  Filming had not started on Season 2 of Anne Rice's Mayfair Witches at that time, and had not started at the time SAG-AFTRA struck.

Season 2 of Interview With the Vampire, however, had begun filming, and did pause filming when that strike began.  As pleased as I am to hear that AMC had been able to reach an agreement that allowed filming on the show to resume, that doesn't mean matters are resolved for the vast majority of the writers and performers who remain on strike.  

Since Season 1 of both AMC shows are obviously filmed and released, I'm willing to return to discussing Season 1 of Anne Rice's Mayfair Witches.  

Until WGA and SAG-AFTRA reach agreements that will be fair to them in providing the compensation they earn through their hard work, the Parlor will continue to support their efforts 100%.

But why is the image at the top one of Rowan AND Lestat?!  

The Haunted Mansion (Disney, 2003)

And why is the title of this post Welcome Foolish Mor--WHOOPS!  Wrong house.

Welcome to the Double Parlor?!

Well, this might have something to do with it:

On the Parlor's YouTube channel is a playlist of short clips and extras where the cast and crew of Anne Rice's Mayfair Witches discusses filming the series.  One thing that was mentioned was something that on DVD Extras would be called an "Easter egg".  Little hidden gems throughout the film/season episodes that hint at other things.

In this case, Interview With the Vampire and Anne Rice's Mayfair Witches having little details included that reference each other.

When I watched the Interview With the Vampire series on AMC last fall and saw the scene that is the source of the GIF image above, can you imagine the size of my eyeballs at that moment?!  So when one of the producers of the Mayfair Witches series mentioned these little gems, I thought, hmmm...

Why not see if I can find these little Easter eggs in Season 1 of both shows that I didn't pick up on before?

There are three books in the Vampire Chronicles series that include the Mayfair Witches.  One follows a Mayfair who descended from a different branch of the Mayfair family tree than the Mayfairs of First and Amelia Streets.  The other two, one of which does include Merrick Mayfair, seem to conclude the tale of the Mayfair Witches as they also cross paths with another immortal: Lestat.

So I thought...

Why not put something together for fans of the Vampire Chronicles that focuses on where they intertwine with the Mayfair Witches?

The parlor at 1239 First Street is referred to as a "double parlor", with the ornate arch in the middle acting as something as a partition without actually being one.  It's a bit like looking in a giant mirror for a wall, and seeing the layout of the parlor reflecting, only instead of a reflection, it is actually the other half of the entire room!

The Double Parlor at 1239 First Street, New Orleans

This kind of double parlor is found in so many houses in New Orleans, you'd think it would have become a building code at some point!  

The Double Parlor in the Gallier House, New Orleans (Courtesy: Tulsa Tiny Stuff)

The Gallier House, which was used as Lestat's parlor in AMC's Interview With the Vampire, also has a double parlor, as you see above in this photo, taken in or about 2011.  

The Parlor of the Soria Creel House, New Orleans (Courtesy: NOLA.com)

Here is a photo of the parlor of the Soria Creel house, the exterior of which was used for the Mayfair House in Anne Rice's Mayfair Witches.  While the images of the parlors of the Soria Creel and Gallier houses do not appear as they did in either AMC series, there did appear to be some similarities between the rooms of the Mayfair house and Lestat's townhouse in each series.

So, it might be fun to look at the Vampire Chronicles as they combined with the Mayfair Witches.  So far, some of the basics are already there, such as the books in the Vampire Chronicles series and a few words on Interview With the Vampire: Claudia's Story, the graphic novel that is a retelling of events from the perspective of Claudia, the child vampire.  

There is a brief overview of the Vampire Chronicles on the screen prior to the AMC series, and then works its way towards both series.  There is also the beginning of discussion about some of the locations in and around New Orleans that were used for inspiration and/or filming locations.

You can see the beginning of this new wing of the Parlor on the main navigation menu: Lestat's Parlor